Fluid control system louver unit

ABSTRACT

A louver unit for controlling fluid flow, such as the cool air discharge from an air conditioning unit. The louver is tiltable in one plane and has a plurality of vanes that are tiltable in another plane transverse to the first plane. The louver and vanes are so constructed that the vanes will shut off the airflow and certain vanes will overlay other vanes in close juxtaposition to close any opening that might normally be present in the other vanes.

United States Patent 1451 Jan. 25, 1972 Cary [54] FLUID CONTROL SYSTEMLOUVER UNIT [72] Inventor: Arthur P. Cary, c/o Cary Products Co.

Box A.C., Hutchins, Tex. 75141 [22] Filed: Jan. 19, 1970 [2]] Appl. No.:3,869

521 11.5. c1 ..98/110, 98/121 511 110.61 ..r24r 13/00 581 Field ofSearch..98/ll0, 40 v, 94 AC, 121 A, 98/121; 49 75, 81, 88, 77

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 16,632 2/1857 Kelly ..9s/11360,058 3/1887 Snell ..49/88 2,552,982 5/1951 Lambrt.... ..98/12l x2,936,693 5/1960 Sweedyk ..98/1 10 x 3,035,504 5/1962 Cline ..98/1 10 x3,361,049 1/1968 Sweeney ..98/l2l X 3,450,021 6/1969 Ring ..98/l2l X3,503,321 3/1970 Hartmam. ....98/l2l A 3,500,739 3/1970 Dry ..98/l2l XFOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,189,694 3/1965 Germany ..98/40 VPrimary Examiner-Meyer Perlin Att0rneyTh0mas D. Copeland, Jr.

[5 7] ABSTRACT A louver unit for controlling fluid flow, such as thecool air discharge from an air conditioning unit. The louver is tiltablein one plane and has a plurality of vanes that are tiltable in anotherplane transverse to the first plane. The louver and vanes are soconstructed that the vanes will shut off the airflow and certain vaneswill overlay other vanes in close juxtaposi tion to close any openingthat might normally be present in the other vanes.

6 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEU JANZS i872 SHEET 1 OF 2 FIG.

FIG. 2

TENIEBJMSW 3,636,854

sum 2 UF 2 FIG. 7

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION l. Field of the Invention This inventionrelates generally to air-conditioning units, and more particularly to anovel louver unit that controls the airflow from an air conditioner.

2. Statement of the Prior Art The prior art discloses the louver unitsthat have vanes that pivot in one or more planes to give directivity toan air stream.

In one prior art embodiment, vertical vanes pivot from side to side atthe front of an air conditioning air diffuser panel, and thehorizontally mounted vanes pivot up and down in unison from an open to aclosed position. However, in this embodiment the horizontal vanes aremounted completely behind the vertical vanes so that there is nocooperative mechanical interaction between the two sets of vanes.

Another prior art device utilizes two sets of vanes, each individuallypivoted to a louver housing in such a way that each vane has individualindependent movement, but no attempt is made to close off the entire airflow passage. The front vane moves in a V-shaped notch in the rearmostvane and has a range of travel of less than 90, so that it is notpossible for those vanes to lay flat or touch the next adjacent vane.

In another embodiment seen in the prior art, a second set of vanes isgang-mounted behind a first set and the second set is moved to a closedposition by a remote control member. But

again there is no interjacent cooperation between the two sets of vanes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A principal object of this invention is toprovide a louver unit for a fluid control system that may be used todirect the flow of fluid in all desired directions and may be used tocut off the flow entirely in either direction for all practicalpurposes.

Another object is to provide a louver unit having a series of stationaryvanes rigid with the louver unit and a series of pivoted vanestransverse to the stationary vanes and interjacent thereto thatcooperate with the stationary vanes to direct or cut off the fluid flowtherethru.

And another object of this invention is to provide a louver unit havingboth rigid and pivoted airflowdirecting vanes, wherein said pivotedvanes include an opening for an operating control wheel and wherein thedimensions of said vanes are moved in either direction to either extremeposition of their travel, the openings provided for the control wheelare fully closed.

A still further object is to provide a louver unit structure thatpermits the associated pivoting vanes to fully close to a substantiallyflat position thru cooperating cutout constructions in both thestructure to which the vanes are pivoted and the structure that actuatesthe vanes for movement.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 represents a perspective viewof an automobile air conditioner in which the louver unit of the presentinvention may be employed.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the louver unit of this inventiondetached from the device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a pictorial view ofthe pivoting vane unit of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the louver unit of FIGS. 2 and 3 with all thevanes pointing straight ahead.

FIG. 5 is a view similar to that of FIG. 4, but in which the pivotedvanes have been moved to one extreme position.

FIG. is a cross-sectional view taken along the lines 6 66 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along the lines 77ofFIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS This invention is particularlyadaptable to automotive air conditioners, as for example, the deviceshown in FIG. I. This device, identified at 1, includes a case 2including a curved rear section 3 to housea pair of squirrel cageblowers (not shown), and a trapezoidally shaped front section 4 whichterminates at its forward end in a louver housing frame 5 in which arepivotally mounted louver units 6, seen detached in FIGS. 2, 4 and 5. Thelouver housing frame 5 is integral with and may be considered to be anextension of case 2.

The louver units 6 are manually moved up or down to pivot abouthorizontally mounted axles 7. The vertically extending vanes (to bedescribed hereafter) are moved from side to side by rotation of thumbwheel 8. The combination of the two movements described will provide thedriver operator with full control of the direction of the emergingcooled air from the air conditioner unit..1 over a large volume of anautomobile interior.

Since automobile air conditioners are now well known at this date, fulldetails of all operating and structural parts not described will beconsidered to be state of the art construction.

The portion of unit 1 relating to the novelty contained herein will bedescribed in detail and may be seen principally in FIGS. 2-6 of thedrawing. FIG. 2 shows the complete subassembly known as the louver unit6, which includes a louver frame 9 having a series of parallelhorizontally extending (when installed in operating position) members11, and having a series of vertically extending blades or vanes 12 whichmove between and in cooperation with the horizontal members 11. Thumbwheel 8 is located centrally in each louver unit and transmits the forceneeded to tilt the vanes 12.

In conventional air conditioners, the vanes are provided with movementto varying degrees in the louver units. The applicants purpose is toprovide full and complete movement of the vanes until they lay flat onand over one another (a shingle effect) and close off all air passagesto thus substantially completely close all air passages at the endmostposition of the vanes in either direction of movement.

FIG. 3 discloses the van operating construction to comprise a series ofvanes 13-15, each pivoted by its pin 16 to a vane actuating bar 17. Eachvane also includes a second set of, pivot pins 18 which supports thevanes and in fact the entire vane operating unit 19 in the louver frame9 in a manner to be described hereafter. The central vane 15 includes alarge central slot 21 and a pair of narrow slots 22 on each side of thecentral slot 21 and aligned to surround and cooperate with certainhorizontal members 11 of the louver frame. A pair of aligned andparallel ridges 23 extend from the bottom of slot 21 to the opposite endof vane 15. These spaced ridges (on both sides of the vane) cooperatewith the parallel faces 24 of thumb wheel 8 so that the ridges actuallyguide and index the sides of thumb wheel 8 and this action together withthe engagement of thumb wheel slot 25 (together with an adhesive) withvane 15 provides a holding action that retains thumb wheel 8 in placeand permits it to transmit turning force from the operators finger tocause the vanes to pivot about the pins 18, and this pivoting is insuredto be done in parallel unison by vane actuating bar 17. The end vanes 13contain three parallel slots, each having substantially the width of itsrelated horizontal member 11. The larger central slot 21 of vanes 14 &15 corresponds in size to the width of thumb wheel housing 32, and slot33 corresponds in size to wheel 8. This combination of these two slotscooperating with wheel 8 and housing 32 permits the vanes to avoidinterference when moved to their flat or closed position. And thespacing B between vane bearings, and the spacing A between the end vanebearings and the housing are all equal and equal to each other. Thisdimensional arrangement will permit the vanes to lay flat in bothdirections of their movement. Also the dimensions C from the bottom ofcenter slot 21 and to the end of the vanes 12 and 15 is such that whenthe vanes are lying flat no opening will appear on the side not neededfor the thumb wheel housing32 (FIG. 5).

FIG. 4 shows a view of the louver unit 6 of FIG. 2 from the rear whenthe vanes are straight ahead to permit the full free flow of conditionedair thru the louver unit 6. FIG. 5 is a similar view to FIG. 4, afterthumb wheel 8 has been rotated to cause the vanes to lay flat. In thesetwo views and in FIG. 7 it will be seen that the vanes 13l5 aresupported for pivotal movement by their pins 18 residing in bearingseats 26 which are relatively thin and are spaced away from the sidewall27 of frame 9 to provide the flexibility required when the vane pins aresnapped past the narrow throat opening 0. Having been forced thru, thepins will remain in their seats until deliberately removed. The spacingD between bearing seat 26 centers is equal the distances D and D 2 andalso the distance A to permit full closure of the center opening 21 whenall the vanes are laid flat. The small slots 22 will be substantiallyfilled with the horizontal members 11 so that no opening will appear andno airflow will occur thru these openings. All openings in the vanes areso dimensioned and so aligned and the vanes are so dimensioned that whenthe vanes are shingled no openings are exposed. The term shingled, asthe name applies here means that the vanes lay one on the other asshingles on a roof.

The mechanism to permit the vanes to all lay flat (in their shingledcondition) is shown in FIG. 6. The undercut dimensions F and G in thebearing seat frame 30 and in the vane actuating bar 17 respectively aresubstantially equal and are sufficient to permit the bearing seats 26 tonest in the spaces G and to permit the pin bosses 31 to nest in thespaces F with the result that all of the vanes 13-15 attached to the bar17 will lay flat and shingle adjacent vanes within the frame 9, and forthe reasons previously given, all of the air passages will be closedwhen the vanes are moved to this extreme flat position. Due tomanufacturing tolerances there will be a certain amount of play" betweenthe vanes when closed flat as above described. in view of thiscondition, if the vanes are not fully closed when the air pressureengages the back sides of the vanes they will be moved by this pressureinto closer juxtaposition and the tightness of the seal will thereby beincreased. A contributing factor in the manufacture of the economicallouver unit of this invention entirely of lightweight plastics and yetcapable of performing the desired function of a full 180 traverse of thevanes in the louver frame from one fully closed position to a fullyclosed position to a fully closed position in the opposite direction isthe bearing seat construction of FIG. 7. In this view it will be seenthat the bearing seats rest on and are molded integral with ledges 30which are part of the outside longitudinal members 27 of the louverframe 9. A space S separates the seats from the body of member 27. Werethis not so, it would be impossible for the ears 33 to flex outward andthen return to normal position when pins 18 are forced past restrictedopenings 0, and down into the seats proper. It will also be noted thatcars 33 are not strongly braced laterally but have just enough body tohold pins 18 in place without either breaking, or breaking the pinsduring assembly. And one the pins are in place they will not be moved upand out of their seats by any force normally encountered in use. Priorart utilized a boxlike structure of great rigidity for this purpose, butdifficulty is encountered in such a structure because of the unyieldingnature of this type of construction.

By allowing proper clearances between the several parts of the louver,and by the method of assembly given below, the louver may be operatedwithout danger of pins 16 and 18 becoming disengaged through lateralmovement of the vanes or the actuating bar.

In assembly, wheel 8 is first cemented to center vane and all the vanesare attached to actuating bar 17 by inserting pins 16 in holes 16A. Theentire assembly is then lowered into frame 9 so that pins 18 are allresting on their respective bearing seat ears 33 and over restrictedopenings 0. By the use of a suitable fixture, the vanes are forced downinto frame 9 and all the pins snap into their respective bearing seats.As shown in FIG. 5, actuating bar 17 has just enough clearance to movewithout rubbing on frame member 27, so that once the unit is assembledit is impossible for pins I6 and I8 to move laterally our of the holesor bearing seats in which they are held.

I claim:

I. In a fluid control system, a louver unit, comprising:

a. a main frame including a bearing seat frame,

b. a series of parallel frame members in said frame,

0. a series of vanes pivoted in said bearing seat frame and adapted tobe pivotally moved in said frame and interjacent to said parallel framemembers from a position of alignment with the desired airflow to aposition transverse to said air flow and vice versa,

. one of said frame members defining an enlarged structure for housing acontrol element,

. a control element in said housing,

said vanes defining openings therein to permit said vanes to be rotatedin said frame without interference with the structure of said members,control element or control element housing,

. certain of said vane openings being on one portion of all said vanesrelative to said pivotal mounting of said vane for cooperating with saidframe members, other of said vane openings being on the other portion ofcertain vanes for cooperating with said control element, and another ofsaid vane openings being on another portion of said last named vanes forcooperating with said control element housing, all of said openingsbeing masked by a solid portion of an adjacent vane or by that structurewith which it cooperates to provide closure of all said openings whensaid vanes are moved to their transverse positions.

2. A louver unit as in claim 1, comprising:

. a gang-connected vane actuating bar actuating bar having raised pinbasses defining cutouts therebetween,

. said bearing seat frame having raised bearing seats defining cutoutstherebetween,

c. said pin bosses and said bearing seats each being so positioned andeach operating in the same plane, whereby when said vanes are moved toeither extreme position, said bosses and seats will each nest in thecutout area of the other structure to permit maximum closure betweensaid bearing seat frame and said vane actuating bar, while avoiding airblockage through said frame.

In a fluid control system, a louver unit, comprising:

a main frame including a bearing seat frame,

a series of parallel frame members in said frame,

a series of vanes adapted to be pivotally moved in said bearing seatframe and interjacent said parallel frame members from a position ofalignment with the desired airflow to a position transverse to said airflow and vice versa,

d. said vanes defining openings therein to permit said vanes to berotated in said frame without interference with the structure of saidframe members,

e. one of said frame members defining an enlarged structure for housinga control element,

f. a control element in said housing,

. certain of said vanes defining a specific openings to avoidinterference with said control element housing when said vanes arerotated,

h. means in said vane construction to permit closure of all saidopenings when said vanes are moved to their transverse position,

. coupling means to couple said vanes together to permit simultaneousmovement of said vanes while maintaining said vanes in parallelrelationship with each other,

j. means in said bearing seat frame to cooperate with said couplingmeans and permit said vanes to shingle with each other and lay flat insaid main frame and close said openings within said frame,

. said vanes including pivot pins,

said bearing seat frame including bearing seats receiving said pins,

m. said coupling means comprising a vane actuating bar having raised pinbosses of certain height defining cutouts therebetween and said baroperating in the same plane as said bearing seat frame,

11. certain of said bearing seats nesting into the certain height areaof said vane actuating bar when said bar is moved to either extremeposition.

4. A louver unit as in claim 3, wherein:

a. said bearing seat frame comprises raised bearing seats of a certainheight defining cutouts therebetween,

b. and wherein when said vanes are moved to an extreme lateral position,said raised pin bosses will occupy the cutouts in said bearing seatframe for permitting said vanes to shingle and lay flat in each extremeposition of their movement.

In a fluid control system, a louver unit, comprising:

a main frame including a bearing seat frame,

a series of parallel frame members in said frame,

a series of vanes adapted to be pivotally moved in said frame andinterjacent said parallel frame members from a position of alignmentwith the desired airflow to a position transverse to said airflow andvice versa,

d. said vanes defining openings therein to permit said vanes to berotated in said frame without interference with the structure of saidframe members,

e. and means in said vane construction to permit full closure of allsaid openings when said vanes are moved to their transverse position,

f. one of said frame members defining an enlarged structure for housinga control element,

g. a control element in said housing,

h. certain of said vanes defining specific openings to avoidinterference with said control element housing when said vanes arerotated,

. coupling means to control element housing when said vanes are rotated,

. coupling means to couple said vanes together to permit simultaneousmovement of said vanes while maintaining said vanes in parallelrelationship with each other,

j. means in said bearing seat frame to cooperate with said couplingmeans and permit said vanes to shingle with each other and lay flat insaid main frame and fill the openings within said frame,

k. said vanes including pivot pins,

1. said frame including bearing seats receiving said pins,

m. the spacing from the last bearing seat and the nearest end of theframe being equal to the spacing between the bearing seats,

n. and the total length of said vane being twice said spacing.

6. A louver unit as in claim 5, wherein:

a. means are included in said bearing seat frame to cooperate with saidcoupling means and permit said vanes to shingle with each other and layflat in said main frame and become firmly closed one against the otherunder air pressure on the back side thereof.

1. In a fluid control system, a louver unit, comprising: a. a main frameincluding a bearing seat frame, b. a series of parallel frame members insaid frame, c. a series of vanes pivoted in said bearing seat frame andadapted to be pivotally moved in said frame and interjacent to saidparallel frame members from a position of alignment with the desiredairflow to a position transverse to said air flow and vice versa, d. oneof said frame members defining an enlarged structure for housing acontrol element, e. a control element in said housing, f. said vanesdefining openings therein to permit said vanes to be rotated in saidframe without interference with the structure of said members, controlelement or control element housing, g. certain of said vane openingsbeing on one portion of all said vanes relative to said pivotal mountingof said vane for cooperating with said frame members, other of said vaneopenings being on the other portion of certain vanes for cooperatingwith said control element, and another of said vane openings being onanother portion of said last named vanes for cooperating with saidcontrol element housing, all of said openings being masked by a solidportion of an adjacent vane or by that structure with which itcooperates to provide closure of all said openings when said vanes aremoved to their transverse positions.
 2. A louver unit as in claim 1,comprising: a. a gang-connected vane actuating bar actuating bar havingraised pin basses defining cutouts therebetween, b. said bearing seatframe having raised bearing seats defining cutouts therebetween, c. saidpin bosses and said bearing seats each being so positioned and eachoperating in the same plane, whereby when said vanes are moved to eitherextreme position, said bosses and seats will each nest in the cutoutarea of the other structure to permit maximum closure between saidbearing seat frame and said vane actuating bar, while avoiding airblockage through said frame.
 3. In a fluid control system, a louverunit, comprising: a. a main frame including a bearing seat frame, b. aseries of parallel frame members in said frame, c. a series of vanesadapted to be pivotally moved in said bearing seat frame and interjacentsaid parallel frame members from a position of alignment with thedesired airFlow to a position transverse to said air flow and viceversa, d. said vanes defining openings therein to permit said vanes tobe rotated in said frame without interference with the structure of saidframe members, e. one of said frame members defining an enlargedstructure for housing a control element, f. a control element in saidhousing, g. certain of said vanes defining a specific openings to avoidinterference with said control element housing when said vanes arerotated, h. means in said vane construction to permit closure of allsaid openings when said vanes are moved to their transverse position, i.coupling means to couple said vanes together to permit simultaneousmovement of said vanes while maintaining said vanes in parallelrelationship with each other, j. means in said bearing seat frame tocooperate with said coupling means and permit said vanes to shingle witheach other and lay flat in said main frame and close said openingswithin said frame, k. said vanes including pivot pins, l. said bearingseat frame including bearing seats receiving said pins, m. said couplingmeans comprising a vane actuating bar having raised pin bosses ofcertain height defining cutouts therebetween and said bar operating inthe same plane as said bearing seat frame, n. certain of said bearingseats nesting into the certain height area of said vane actuating barwhen said bar is moved to either extreme position.
 4. A louver unit asin claim 3, wherein: a. said bearing seat frame comprises raised bearingseats of a certain height defining cutouts therebetween, b. and whereinwhen said vanes are moved to an extreme lateral position, said raisedpin bosses will occupy the cutouts in said bearing seat frame forpermitting said vanes to shingle and lay flat in each extreme positionof their movement.
 5. In a fluid control system, a louver unit,comprising: a. a main frame including a bearing seat frame, b. a seriesof parallel frame members in said frame, c. a series of vanes adapted tobe pivotally moved in said frame and interjacent said parallel framemembers from a position of alignment with the desired airflow to aposition transverse to said airflow and vice versa, d. said vanesdefining openings therein to permit said vanes to be rotated in saidframe without interference with the structure of said frame members, e.and means in said vane construction to permit full closure of all saidopenings when said vanes are moved to their transverse position, f. oneof said frame members defining an enlarged structure for housing acontrol element, g. a control element in said housing, h. certain ofsaid vanes defining specific openings to avoid interference with saidcontrol element housing when said vanes are rotated, i. coupling meansto control element housing when said vanes are rotated, i. couplingmeans to couple said vanes together to permit simultaneous movement ofsaid vanes while maintaining said vanes in parallel relationship witheach other, j. means in said bearing seat frame to cooperate with saidcoupling means and permit said vanes to shingle with each other and layflat in said main frame and fill the openings within said frame, k. saidvanes including pivot pins, l. said frame including bearing seatsreceiving said pins, m. the spacing from the last bearing seat and thenearest end of the frame being equal to the spacing between the bearingseats, n. and the total length of said vane being twice said spacing. 6.A louver unit as in claim 5, wherein: a. means are included in saidbearing seat frame to cooperate with said coupling means and permit saidvanes to shingle with each other and lay flat in said main frame andbecome firmly closed one against the other under air pressure on theback side thereof.